The Backrooms | Paranormal Deep Dive / Iceberg | Ep #58

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Welcome stranger, to Madam
Strange ways, where I, Madam

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Strange Ways, usually narrate
your true strange stories of the

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unexplained.
Today, however, you're joining

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me for a strange deep dive, AKA
a strange dive into the topic of

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the back rooms.
We'll look at the strange truth

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behind this strange liminal
horror setting and try to

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understand its strange origins.
Whether you're a skeptic, A

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believer, or some secret third
thing, join me as I share my

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strange research and even
stranger observations.

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Along the way.
I'll also drag you down a slew

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of strange rabbit holes, kicking
and screaming if needs must.

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Before we get to the kicking and
screaming, however, the

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strangest of shout outs to my
Patreon patrons TJ Hotter of the

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Tapes of Trepidation podcast, G
Man Music.

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Ted, Keith and Tori, thank you
so much to my Feral Fiendish 5

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for supporting the show.
Hear your name at the beginning

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of every episode, get a free
sticker, and get bonus content

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like guided sleep Meditations
and Madam Strange Notes episodes

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for joining the Patreon today at
patreon.com/madam.

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Strange Ways the Thunder's a
paid actor if you're curious,

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and it's about to rain Hellcats
and Hell Hounds out there.

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The Hellcats and Hell Hounds are
also paid actors, so you know

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what that means.
Settle in for a strange dive

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episode all about the back rooms
here with Madam Strangeways.

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If you're not careful and you no
clip out of reality in the wrong

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areas, you'll end up in the back
rooms where it's nothing but the

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stink of old moist carpet, the
madness of mono yellow, the

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endless background noise of
fluorescent lights at maximum

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humbuzz, and approximately 600
million square miles of randomly

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segmented empty rooms to be
trapped in.

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God save you if you hear
something wandering around

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nearby, because it sure as hell
has heard you.

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Ah yes, the backrooms.
The backrooms.

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I definitely knew what the
backrooms were when I started

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research on this episode.
Definitely, definitely.

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You know, in case you don't know
what the backrooms are you not

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me, In case you don't know.
How do we put this in a strange

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nutshell for you without getting
too lost and other more

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insidious backrooms along the
way?

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Hmm.
OK, so in a strange nutshell

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about the size of a Istachio,
the Backrooms are effectively an

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online community horror
creeyasta project that sawned

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from a single paragraph long
text post in response to a photo

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of an empty furniture store
turned hobby store that was

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taken in 2002 and posted on 4
Chan in 2019.

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Now if you just Google the
Backrooms, probably the very

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first photo that's going to pop
up is this photo of this

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abandoned furniture store.
But you can also pop on over to

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my Instagram page and it should
be.

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Up there as well.
And I don't think that I have

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ever shared a less helpful
strange nutshell with you.

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So hold on, hold on from the.
Wow.

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From the creepypasta wiki.
The Backrooms is a containment

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fiction horror concept involving
A labyrinthine, seemingly

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endless maze of rooms and
environments, credited with

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popularizing the idea of liminal
spaces in online horror culture.

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Put a pen in that.
Put a pen in liminal spaces.

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We will get back to it.
Because in a larger, strange

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nutshell, I don't know, roughly
what do you think?

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Roughly the size of a walnut.
No bigger than a walnut.

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A pecan or a pecan?
I.

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Guess if you're nasty and the
strange nutshell around the size

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of a pecan.
The backrooms is a massive

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online phenomena that started
just as a single creepypasta

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that has spawned countless other
creepypastas. 52,000 YouTube

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videos and counting. 22 of those
videos having been made by

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someone named Kane Pixels or
Kane Parsons put a pin in that

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as well.
The backgrounds have also

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spawned between 37 and hundreds
of video games, mostly indie,

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about 200,000 Google searches a
month, tons of merchandise and a

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feature film coming out soon.
By a 24.

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Yes that a 24.
Hereditary, Midsomar or

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Midsummer.
I don't know the witch or the

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the witch.
Because it's 2 VS you know, like

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in the logo, OK.
Pearl and now the Backrooms.

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It just seems crazy.
The original photo that the

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Backrooms is associated with,
which is part of the post that

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it came from, has been
considered a liminal space,

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which like I said, we'll get
into momentarily.

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But liminality and liminal
spaces and liminal horror

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predate the Backrooms.
But it is probably credited

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accurately with popularizing
liminal spaces.

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But let's not get ahead of
ourselves, OK?

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Because this is a strange dive
episode after all.

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And I've got many pages of
notes, I think 13, which I

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thought was appropriate because
I finished the notes slash

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script on Friday the 13th.
So we've got plenty to go down.

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We will go deep down into the
strange rabbit hole.

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We will discuss the lore, the
history, the rise of the back

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rooms, and we'll also discuss
the eeriness of liminal spaces

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while dragging you down a bunch
of strange rabbit holes along

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the way.
Of course now some of you y'all

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go down willingly, but you know
it would be fun if you would

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kick in the scream for me, it
would be more fun if you didn't

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act like you liked it if you
could kick and scream while I'm

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dragging you down those strange
rabbit holes.

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Thank you very much.
Now I wanted very badly to also

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discuss the mall world in this
episode because it is a perfect

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fit.
It would be absolutely perfect.

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I even wanting to talk about the
mall world for almost as long as

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I've had the podcast.
This would have been the perfect

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fit.
But like I said, I have 13 pages

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on just the backroom.
So unfortunately, the mall world

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will have to have its own
episode.

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Do you know what the mall world
is?

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Do you want to know?
Are you curious?

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Let me know,
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

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Let me know if you want to hear
more about the Walt Mall world

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because I want to talk about it.
So to start, I want to share the

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catalyst for the entirety of the
back rooms as we know it, which

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we did just listen to at the
beginning, at the opening of the

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episode.
It's just 78 words.

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That's all in an image on May
12th, 2019, not May 13th, which

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is listed in a bunch of places
which I don't understand.

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It was definitely May 12th.
Anyway, on May 12th, 2019, on

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the anonymous message board 4
Chan, some rando whose identity

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we still don't know posted in
response to a thread ON/X, which

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is the paranormal themed board
on 4 Chan.

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The original thread requested
that users post disquieting

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images that just feel off, which
is effectively a long way of

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saying liminal images, but I
guess that term wasn't super

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super popular at the time since
the Backrooms kind of

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popularized it.
Anyway, The original thread

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included one picture to kick
things off and to set the mood

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of eerie liminal spaces that
they were looking for.

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That picture has become
permanently associated with the

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creation of the Backrooms.
But that image had been posted

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many times since 2011.
Well 2012 or 2011 ish.

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So the first time it was posted
was not 20, 19.

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There was just something
different about this time,

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something about the combination
of the photo and the text.

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So the image in question is what
looks like a retro.

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And by retro, did you know that
retro is not that old?

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Retro can mean what is it 25
years ago, so 2001, 2000?

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I hate it.
I.

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Hate it.
Anyway, the image is what looks

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like a retro digital photograph
of a large carpeted room with

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fluorescent lights and dividing
walls.

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Everything is sickly yellow and
it's unmistakably liminal in

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nature.
I promise we will get to

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liminality more in a bit, but
just picture the feeling of

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seeing your school at night with
no kids in the halls and the

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lights are out.
Or even if the lights are on.

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Or a picture, eerie photos at
night of like an abandoned swing

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set just kind of gives you a
weird feeling.

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Just keep that in mind.
So then here comes some

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anonymous rando, like I said,
with just two sentences that

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spawn to the entirety of the
back rooms.

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And that's the post.
You heard of the beginning?

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I'm just going to read it again.
If you're not careful and you no

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clip out of reality in the wrong
areas, you'll end up in the back

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rooms where it's nothing but the
stink of old moist carpet, the

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madness of mono yellow, the
endless background noise of

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fluorescent lights at maximum
hum buzz, and approximately 600

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million square miles of randomly
segmented empty rooms to be

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trapped in.
God save you if you hear

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anything wandering around nearby
because it sure as hell has

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heard you.
I think the word moist instead

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of damp is targeted because so
many people hate the word moist,

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which really reminds me of the
show Dead Like Me.

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Any Dead Like Me fans out there,
let me know man of

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strangewiz@gmail.com.
That was a great show into too

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soon, Mandy Patinkin.
Great job.

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Anyway, you may be wondering now
like you did maybe possibly

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wonder at the beginning, what
does no clip mean in that

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sentence?
Well, we'll get to that.

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Put a pin in that.
Count how many pens you have.

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You better have extra 'cause we
got a lot of them.

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If you've never even heard of
the back rooms, or maybe you

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only know about it in passing as
you wonder to yourself, when did

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I become so out of touch with
the youth and what's cool and

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hip?
You just might be familiar with

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one of these other pieces of
media which actually gives you a

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really good idea of the
Backrooms.

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There's the video game.
The Stanley Parable came out in

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2013.
This came out six years prior to

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the first Backrooms post on 4
Chan.

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Stanley Parable is such a fun
game.

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If you have not played it, what
are you doing?

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You have to play.
Don't do it right now, don't

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pause, finish the episode and
then go play The Stanley

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Parable.
It's so much fun.

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There's also the video game
Super Liminal that came out in

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2019, but the demo was released
in 2013, so again, prior to the

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birth of the Backrooms.
But by the way, if you haven't

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played the if you haven't
played, gosh, if you haven't

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played Super Liminal, also very
fun.

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00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,840
However, it opens up with a
warning about experiencing

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derealization and disassociation
due to the nature of the dream.

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Setting of the game.
Which I definitely experienced

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like I was binging that game.
I was playing way too much of

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that game during kind of like a
period of depression, you might

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say.
So I was definitely experiencing

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some of.
Those side effects so.

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You know, just in moderation.
Just play it in moderation.

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That's with all things anyway.
You may have also seen or at

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least be passingly familiar with
the Apple Plus series Severance,

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00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,240
which came out in 2022, which
has been said to be directly

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influenced by the Backrooms as
well as the game Stanley

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Parable.
So both of those pieces of media

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influenced Severance.
So that's going to give you a

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00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,920
really good idea of what the
Backrooms are.

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And then of course, American
Horror Stories.

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American.
Horror stories, plural, Which is

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the spin?
Off to American Horror Story

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00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,320
Singular, which I did not know,
but in 2024 it even had a

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Backrooms episode that aired in
the third season of American

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00:12:12,800 --> 00:12:15,320
Horror Stories.
So if you've seen that, you have

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a pretty good idea what the
Backrooms are.

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But here's the thing.
We can't discuss the Backrooms

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without first discussing
liminality.

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00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,080
Here we are.
Liminality and liminal spaces.

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00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,560
This will be brief ish probably.
We'll see.

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00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:30,480
Here we go.
All right, liminality and

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liminal spaces.
Merriam Webster, don't you love

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00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:36,800
when like essays start with
this?

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00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,620
Merriam Webster defines this
word as but here we go, Merriam

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00:12:41,620 --> 00:12:44,640
Webster.
Merriam Webster has this to say

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about liminality.
Of relating to or being an

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00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:53,000
intermediate state, phase or
condition in between or

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transitional.
OK, not super helpful.

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00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,120
Thanks, Miriam.
But if you've heard this word,

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it might have been associated
with a few things.

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Maybe some spooky photos of
bright, cheerful but utterly

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abandoned children's play rooms.
Or maybe a spooky photo of a

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00:13:08,720 --> 00:13:13,000
hotel pool or an abandoned mall,
or of an abandoned staircase.

227
00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:15,960
Abandoned is a big theme.
That and the staircase goes on

228
00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:18,080
forever and it's spooky.
And you don't know why it's

229
00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:22,320
spooky because it's not actually
made necessarily to be spooky.

230
00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:24,320
It just kind of is.
It gives you a weird feeling,

231
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:26,440
kind of like, you know what the
feeling it gives me is when you

232
00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,120
take a nap.
This is unscripted.

233
00:13:28,520 --> 00:13:31,760
When you're a teenager and you
take a nap after school or

234
00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,960
something and then you wake up
and you're kind of disoriented

235
00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:39,120
and time has passed, but you
didn't notice because you're

236
00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:40,480
asleep.
And now like the it's kind of

237
00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:42,960
dark outside and maybe like.
There's like the.

238
00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,440
Smell of dinner happening and
you're just kind of disoriented

239
00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:48,160
and the mourning doves are
happy, you know what I mean?

240
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:51,680
I don't know, just this weird
kind of in between stage.

241
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:54,480
Anyway, that's the vibe, OK.
You might have also heard of

242
00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,520
liminal horror.
Like I think I think Lovecraft

243
00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,480
is technically liminal horror.
OK, so if you're into Lovecraft,

244
00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:06,640
you know what liminal horror is.
Or Tehen King's The Langoliers.

245
00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,400
There's a throwback or even The
Shining.

246
00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,800
Also Stephen King, though I
haven't read the book.

247
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:16,000
So I'm actually not sure if
liminality is kind of a thing in

248
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,000
the book or if it's just Kubrick
being Kubrick.

249
00:14:19,200 --> 00:14:21,760
But the movie sets and
cinematography of The Shining

250
00:14:21,760 --> 00:14:25,600
are deeply, deeply liminal, so
just keep those images in mind.

251
00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,640
But before we used the word
liminal to describe creepy

252
00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:33,040
photos and media, liminal was
first used by Arnold von Hinnip

253
00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:37,320
in 19 O 9A French ethnographer
and folklorist to describe the

254
00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,520
concept of rituals, working
life's transitions such as

255
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:42,760
birth, puberty, marriage or
death.

256
00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:47,360
There is the pre liminal
separation, the liminal

257
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:50,720
transition and post liminal
incorporation.

258
00:14:51,200 --> 00:14:54,320
These stages move an individual
from one social status to

259
00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:56,800
another.
Much like how staircases are the

260
00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,520
in between stage, between where
you started and your

261
00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:01,720
destination.
It's a transition.

262
00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:06,200
Thinking of the backroom's
photo, it's a huge empty room

263
00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:08,920
devoid entirely of furniture or
any signs of life.

264
00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,760
So it's clearly this in between
stage, something stuck between

265
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:15,280
the before and the after that
we're not really meant to see.

266
00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,800
We don't actually know what the
before was or what the after is

267
00:15:17,800 --> 00:15:21,200
or who it's for.
Hennett went on to explain that

268
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,200
the following could also be
considered liminal.

269
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:25,960
The passage of people from one
status to another.

270
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,080
Initiation ceremonies in which
an outsider is brought into the

271
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:30,920
group.
Passage from one place to

272
00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,360
another, such as moving houses,
moving to a new city, etcetera.

273
00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:37,680
Passage from one situation to
another, like beginning

274
00:15:37,680 --> 00:15:40,960
university or starting a new job
and graduating high school or

275
00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:42,960
university.
Passage of people from one

276
00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:46,640
status to another, like
initiation ceremonies or

277
00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,080
marriage and the passage of
time, such as New Year

278
00:15:49,080 --> 00:15:52,240
celebrations and birthdays.
Or I guess in my case, like a

279
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,520
nap after school.
Actually, it kind of sounds like

280
00:15:55,840 --> 00:15:59,600
Purgatory.
You might say this in between

281
00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,000
space, which actually quick
rabbit hole here.

282
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,000
Here we go down to a strange
rabbit hole.

283
00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:07,040
So you know about Dante's
Inferno.

284
00:16:07,040 --> 00:16:12,360
I assume Dante and I go way
back, but did you also know that

285
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:17,160
inside of Dante's Divine Comedy,
he also wrote Dante's Paradiso?

286
00:16:17,280 --> 00:16:19,600
Paradiso.
It's Paradiso.

287
00:16:20,160 --> 00:16:23,880
He also wrote Dante's Paradiso
and also, more relevantly,

288
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:28,080
Dante's Purgatorio.
Like Purgatory.

289
00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:31,120
By the way, have we talked about
how Dante was just writing Bible

290
00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,480
fanfiction?
I mean, because that's literally

291
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:35,200
what this is.
You read the Bible and he was

292
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:39,320
like, I'm like, so into the
story and these characters and

293
00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:42,040
the setting in this world.
I've got to write my own story.

294
00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,760
That's fanfiction.
And actually, Fanfix put a pin

295
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,400
in that for later too.
I told you you're going to need

296
00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,120
a lot of pens today anyway.
Dante's Purgatorio.

297
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,840
Did you also know that there are
10 levels to the Purgatory

298
00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,920
Mountain in Dante's Purgatory?
That's where you have to like,

299
00:16:58,920 --> 00:17:01,200
climb up the Purgatory Mountain.
I don't know.

300
00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:05,880
But there's also nine circles of
hell in Dante's Inferno, which

301
00:17:05,880 --> 00:17:08,319
is probably not at all a
coincidence that the back rooms

302
00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:14,000
have canonically just 9 levels,
just like Dante's Inferno.

303
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,720
Like hell.
But the difference is, is that

304
00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,960
the backrooms can actually have
as many levels as Infinity

305
00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,200
levels.
How does that work?

306
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:24,480
We'll get into it.
But was that not just like a

307
00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,920
great segue into the backrooms?
Back to the backrooms?

308
00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:31,320
I feel like it was pretty good
because here we go.

309
00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,840
Now we're going to discuss
liminality and the backrooms and

310
00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,600
John's hobbies.
So the concept of the backrooms

311
00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:42,960
only exists because of the
increasing interest in liminal

312
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,320
spaces.
I know that sounds a little

313
00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:47,760
strange because earlier I told
you that the backrooms kind of

314
00:17:47,760 --> 00:17:52,360
popularized liminal spaces, but
just give me a second, because

315
00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:55,520
the interest in liminal spaces
actually seems to have been born

316
00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:59,480
on the website Tumblr around
2016, which was an excellent

317
00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:03,520
time to be on Tumblr.
Text posts and image posts grew

318
00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,520
in popularity, steadily talking
about liminal spaces and

319
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:09,840
liminality, with this one thread
actually doing an excellent job

320
00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,360
of explaining liminality, to the
point where I'm not actually

321
00:18:12,360 --> 00:18:14,400
sure I needed all the background
that I just gave you about

322
00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,080
liminality.
I probably could have just read

323
00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,000
this to you and you would have
picked up the context and

324
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,800
figured it out.
But listen, it's fine here.

325
00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,880
Here's a list of liminal spaces
from Tumblr.

326
00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,840
Hospitals at midnight.
Empty parking lots.

327
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,160
Playgrounds at night.
There's a theme.

328
00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:31,360
Your friend's living room wants
everyone but you as asleep at

329
00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,680
night, laundromats at midnight.
You see the theme galleries and

330
00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:38,200
art museums that are empty
except for you.

331
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:40,960
Presumably this is during the
day, but it could also be at

332
00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:42,600
night.
That would actually be scarier.

333
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:46,400
Anyway, also, I loved this one.
Here's another space that can be

334
00:18:46,400 --> 00:18:49,080
liminal the lighting section at
Home Depot.

335
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:51,080
And as soon as I read that, I
was like, you know.

336
00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:52,640
What?
Yeah, that's it.

337
00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:55,280
That's going in the notes.
I think that's a very accurate,

338
00:18:55,760 --> 00:18:57,480
that's an accurate liminal
space.

339
00:18:57,560 --> 00:18:59,400
And of course we can add to that
list.

340
00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,280
A strange empty room with yellow
walls and wallpaper and dingy

341
00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,720
carpet.
Moist, dingy carpet.

342
00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,680
Excuse me?
AKA the original backroom's

343
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,280
image.
Because like I said, that image

344
00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:13,520
was not posted for the first
time in 20/19.

345
00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,400
It had been around since 2011 or
2012.

346
00:19:17,200 --> 00:19:20,720
And even the post on, like I
said earlier, the post on 4 Chan

347
00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,320
specifically asked for like
places that make you feel

348
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,200
disquieted or whatever.
It didn't ask for liminal spaces

349
00:19:27,200 --> 00:19:31,280
because that phrase was still
not super popular outside of I

350
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,960
think really, honestly Tumblr.
But the aesthetics, the visuals,

351
00:19:34,960 --> 00:19:37,040
the feeling, people were really
into it.

352
00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,920
We just didn't have that term.
But for nearly ten years, that

353
00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:44,360
backroom's image of that yellow
room had been circulated all

354
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:48,520
around the Internet.
And yet it wasn't until 2024

355
00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,040
that some.
Nerds, I mean sleuths.

356
00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,000
Sorry, figured out the source of
the photo.

357
00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:57,520
And listen, I I'm not
disparaging nerds, I'm just

358
00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:01,320
saying they got to know their.
This isn't news to them anyway,

359
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:03,600
the source of the photo where it
originally came from, because it

360
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:08,200
was a mystery since from 2019 to
2024 it was a mystery that

361
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,560
people were chomping at the bit
to solve.

362
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:15,000
I mean, hundreds, possibly
thousands of people online were

363
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,000
playing Internet sleuth trying
to track it down.

364
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,000
It was a big deal.
And then finally, someone in

365
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,200
2024 figured out that the
original photo came from a

366
00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:29,640
former furniture store, Rohner's
Home Furnishings in Oshkosh, WI.

367
00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,280
Sorry, I can't.
My grandmother was obsessed with

368
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:38,480
Oshkosh overalls for my younger
cousin.

369
00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,760
This is Madam from the Future.
Sorry.

370
00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:43,520
Let me use the full government
name.

371
00:20:43,520 --> 00:20:45,000
Oshkosh.
Begosh.

372
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,360
Oshkosh Begosh.
Who came up with that?

373
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:50,800
Hold on, no I'm not going.
Nope, I'm not going down there

374
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,520
rabbit hole Madam, please
continue.

375
00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,240
Okay, Madam, strange ways from
the future out.

376
00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:56,240
Dilly dude.
Dilly dude.

377
00:20:56,240 --> 00:21:00,360
Because like my grandpa always
wore, he might do adults wear

378
00:21:00,360 --> 00:21:02,800
Oshkosh?
Because my grandpa always wore

379
00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,800
like denim overalls, coveralls.
What's the difference?

380
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,840
Let me know, Madam strangers at
G Multicom, the difference

381
00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,560
between overalls and coveralls.
Anyway, my grandpa always wore

382
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,320
them.
And so, you know, it's cute to

383
00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,800
like dress his grandson up, you
know, like a little mini him.

384
00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:19,440
But that's all I associate
Oshkosh with anyway.

385
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:24,080
Oshkosh, WI.
I can't take it seriously.

386
00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:26,600
Let's start this sentence.
Over a former furniture store,

387
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:30,960
Roaners Home Furnishings in
Oshkosh, WI was being renovated

388
00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,440
by the current tenants, a
company called Hobbytown, AKA

389
00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:40,720
John's Hobbies, who's host who
hosts indoor RC car racing for

390
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,320
nerds.
Oh, I mean, no, I do mean nerds.

391
00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,960
Again, they know they're nerds.
This isn't news.

392
00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,640
The photo was originally taken
to document the renovations made

393
00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:56,560
on June 12th, 2002, shot by a
Sony Cyber-shot digital camera.

394
00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:59,760
So actually, it might not
technically be retro yet.

395
00:21:59,880 --> 00:22:02,080
I think it has another year
before it becomes retro.

396
00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:05,040
I'm pretty sure now John's
Hoppies is still around in

397
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:06,440
kicking.
Well, I don't know if it's

398
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:08,280
kicking.
I think they're kind of

399
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:11,480
struggling.
So if you're near Oshkosh, WI,

400
00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:13,920
swing by.
Go ahead and swing by.

401
00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:15,920
Because you know what?
I took a peek at their Google

402
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:17,760
reviews and they did not
disappoint.

403
00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,640
Listen to this five stars.
Hey Google, I was writing a

404
00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,200
review about this awesome RC
place and some of these reviews

405
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,960
on the backroom's place and
that's all my son has been

406
00:22:27,960 --> 00:22:30,360
talking about.
He wanted to know if you have

407
00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:32,440
any more.
Photos of the backroom's place.

408
00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,600
Anyway, I went here a while ago
with my cousins when they lived

409
00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:37,080
in Wisconsin.
Cheers.

410
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,000
Amazing.
Chef's kiss.

411
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:42,920
Also five stars.
This is a really nice place.

412
00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:45,400
The only downside is that I
tripped and I cannot seem to

413
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:49,160
fire.
The only downside is that I

414
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,320
tripped and I cannot seem to
find a way out.

415
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,320
I've been here for the past week
and a half and it looks all the

416
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,920
same.
Also, someone chased me and it

417
00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,920
definitely wasn't a human.
OK ha ha, very funny.

418
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,520
But no seriously, John's Hobbies
has completely embraced the

419
00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:06,400
backroom stuff because they'll
give anyone who stops by a tour

420
00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,160
of the original backroom's room
backroom's room backroom.

421
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,480
It's fine.
Which is now a giant RC car

422
00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:17,120
racetrack.
So go go and support the

423
00:23:17,120 --> 00:23:23,360
backrooms people in Oshkosh, WI.
Maybe wear some overalls when

424
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:24,840
you go.
OK, wait one more.

425
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,040
Last review this is 3 stars,
three stars, which pause.

426
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:34,280
Here's the thing fight.
I don't tell me I'm right, all

427
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,240
right?
I'm I'm right about this.

428
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:39,520
Five stars is like this is
exactly.

429
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,240
This is great.
I had a great time.

430
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,920
It was, it's a good experience.
So many people reserve five

431
00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:47,520
stars for like the most perfect
thing ever.

432
00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:51,080
So even if they love it and they
use it everyday like on an item

433
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:52,760
or like they wouldn't, they had
a really great time.

434
00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:56,280
They're like, well, but like it
wasn't like the world's best

435
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:57,520
time.
So I'm only going to give it a

436
00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:59,160
four.
What are you talking about?

437
00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:02,400
5 stars?
It's not asking one out of five,

438
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:06,320
five being and we're only
reserved for you see what I'm

439
00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:08,800
saying?
So I cannot first of all, Oh,

440
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:13,360
that really gets me when anyway,
3 is terrible, Three stars is

441
00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:15,080
terrible.
So many people think three stars

442
00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:18,240
is like that's fine.
No, three stars is a problem.

443
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,040
Three stars is a problem,
especially as a business owner.

444
00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,120
If you leave a business three
stars, but actually you didn't

445
00:24:25,120 --> 00:24:27,800
have that bad of a time.
You've just given them a

446
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:31,760
headache.
Anyway, three stars from and I'm

447
00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:33,440
going to name this guy.
I didn't name the other people.

448
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:34,840
I'm going to name this guy
Ethan.

449
00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:37,920
That's his real name.
I didn't make it up.

450
00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,920
Ethan left this three star
review on John's hobbies.

451
00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:46,200
No 4 wheel cars allowed.
I had a foot long car, but it

452
00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:51,160
was 4 wheel drive and they allow
three foot long 1/8 scale cars

453
00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,400
on the track, but not 116th 4
wheel drive.

454
00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,920
Go away, Ethan, go away.
You know what, Ethan?

455
00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:00,160
I hope you no clip out of my
face.

456
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,520
And Speaking of no clipping,
let's get into the lore and

457
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:08,560
mechanics of the backrooms.
So you know how it says, you

458
00:25:08,560 --> 00:25:11,120
know if you're not careful and
you no clip out of reality in

459
00:25:11,120 --> 00:25:13,440
the wrong areas, you'll end up
in the back rooms?

460
00:25:14,480 --> 00:25:17,680
Well, if you're curious what no
clipping is, it's a word that

461
00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:21,400
the youth has come up with to
explain how you know, like in a

462
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,200
video game, you know when you
mess around at the edges of an

463
00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,760
area or like you're at the walls
of a place in a video game and

464
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:31,080
your character kind of like
disappears halfway through the

465
00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,120
wall.
Or sometimes actually like, and

466
00:25:33,120 --> 00:25:35,840
it's called clipping, like where
you clip out of the wall and

467
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:38,520
then you're either like in
complete blackness or

468
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,720
nothingness because you know the
game designers didn't intend for

469
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:43,440
you to ever do that.
And that wasn't.

470
00:25:43,440 --> 00:25:47,080
Actually supposed to happen.
Or no clipping can also just be

471
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,840
ignoring the bounds of the game
entirely to access whatever

472
00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:51,600
areas you like.
So like with a cheat code or

473
00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,680
something, you know, you can
just like move through walls and

474
00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,040
you don't have to worry like a
ghost basically.

475
00:25:56,080 --> 00:25:58,560
Oh, like a ghost.
So that's what no clipping

476
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:01,320
technically is.
But isn't it interesting that,

477
00:26:01,320 --> 00:26:05,280
like, between glitches in the
Matrix and no clipping and NPCS,

478
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:08,040
which is a term that I've talked
about in a previous episode, I

479
00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:12,640
feel pretty confidently that I
did a rant on this, all of these

480
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,280
terms from video games or like,
you know, the Matrix.

481
00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:18,840
I still sci-fi whatever.
All of these terms from fiction

482
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:21,400
is the point.
It's just weird that these terms

483
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:24,680
have all been adopted the way
that they have.

484
00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:26,880
Like a glitch in the matrix is
now just something weird

485
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:30,880
happening like you find.
You find an extra pair of neon

486
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,960
green socks in the dryer when
you know for sure that you have

487
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,760
only owned one pair of neon
green socks, but now suddenly

488
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:38,760
you have two and you know you
didn't ever buy a second pair.

489
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:41,520
That's a glitch in the matrix.
That's not you having a fallible

490
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:43,320
memory.
That's a glitch in the matrix.

491
00:26:43,840 --> 00:26:47,000
And then NPC or non playable
character or non player

492
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:49,720
character in a video game is
someone that's like giving you a

493
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:52,120
quest or something, you know,
like they're, they're programmed

494
00:26:52,120 --> 00:26:53,960
to just say the same thing over
and over and over.

495
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,280
And they're solely there to
serve the main character and

496
00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:00,000
they have no autonomy or free
will.

497
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:04,080
And they are subhuman,
especially compared to you, the

498
00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,360
main character.
But now NPC is used to describe

499
00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:09,920
people who are just boring or
are seen by.

500
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:11,920
All of these.
People out here thinking that

501
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,760
they're the main character,
which they're not, but they all

502
00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:16,120
think they're the main
character.

503
00:27:16,120 --> 00:27:21,360
And they see these other people
who they perceive as boring or

504
00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:25,480
not having an inner world, which
I think is so incredibly

505
00:27:25,480 --> 00:27:28,000
dangerous in a slippery slope.
And I don't like how technology

506
00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,200
is making people think of other
people like they're just lines

507
00:27:30,200 --> 00:27:34,160
in code or seeing them as less
than human, or to think that

508
00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:36,840
something they can't explain is
seriously a glitch, like in an

509
00:27:36,840 --> 00:27:39,480
actual video game, or like we're
in a simulation, just like in

510
00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,560
the Matrix, you know, to talk
about.

511
00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:45,040
Derealization and
depersonalization like warning

512
00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:48,840
warning Will Robinson.
But then now we also have no

513
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,960
clipping being applied outside
of video games too, like

514
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:56,600
applying no clipping to our
reality, implying that again,

515
00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,320
we're just in a simulation or
the world is more like video

516
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,000
games than we truly understand.
Again, like we're in a

517
00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:06,240
simulation and in this reality
that we live in by the backroom

518
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:10,400
rules.
You, yeah, you, you listening?

519
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,760
You can no clip out of reality
and into an alternate reality

520
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,560
that goes on for Infinity, or at
least. 600 million square miles,

521
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,240
which feels close enough.
Because.

522
00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:23,720
The whole earth.
I looked this up.

523
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,960
You know I did.
The whole earth, including

524
00:28:26,960 --> 00:28:33,600
oceans is only 197,000,000
square miles, so the backrooms

525
00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:36,440
is 3 times that size.
Hold on, what's?

526
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:37,840
What?
Hold on?

527
00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,840
OK Google?
OK Google, What planet is 3

528
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:45,560
times the size of Earth?
Sorry, I don't understand.

529
00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,840
This is not good radio.
Google lady, you don't even have

530
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:50,200
a name.
OK.

531
00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,080
It looks like Neptune is the
closest in size to being three

532
00:28:54,080 --> 00:28:58,280
times the size of Earth.
It's actually a little more than

533
00:28:58,280 --> 00:28:59,680
that.
It's actually a little more than

534
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:01,560
that.
So picture Neptune, I guess.

535
00:29:01,560 --> 00:29:04,480
Neptune seems really small to
me, though maybe because it's so

536
00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:06,960
far away it seems really small.
So it's actually not as

537
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:12,400
impressive of a comparison as I.
Was thinking but listen earth is

538
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,720
only 197,000,000 square miles
and the backrooms are like 600

539
00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:20,040
million square miles so.
It's just, it's just, it's just

540
00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:21,560
really big, OK?
It's really big.

541
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:24,560
OK, Look, the point is, is that
the Backrooms is huge.

542
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,680
It's massive.
And canonically, and by that I

543
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:32,080
mean if you base this entirely
only on the 1st post that was

544
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:35,920
ever made about the Backrooms,
that's as much space as it is.

545
00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,720
That's it.
However, the extended universe

546
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:42,840
that people have created around
the pack rooms basically means

547
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,120
that there's just an Infinity
amount of space.

548
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:47,360
But we'll get into that more
later.

549
00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,920
You know, put a pin in that.
You can use one of the other

550
00:29:49,920 --> 00:29:54,080
ones that we've revisited.
I'll allow a reuse of a pen just

551
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,040
this once.
So I mentioned Kane Pixels or

552
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:00,200
Kane Parsons famous short film
on YouTube.

553
00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,600
Well actually there's 22 of
them, but we're just going to

554
00:30:02,600 --> 00:30:06,560
talk about the first one.
The OG called the Backrooms

555
00:30:06,760 --> 00:30:09,680
found footage.
Honestly, go watch it when we're

556
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:15,040
done or I will allow you to
pause and go watch it on YouTube

557
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:19,360
right now I'll allow it just
this once again, just this once

558
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:23,080
I'll allow it.
I was actually I was shocked at

559
00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,040
how good it was and how invested
I was.

560
00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:26,920
It's only 10 minutes.
Did I mention that it's only 10

561
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,160
minutes go watch it it's 10
minutes.

562
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:31,120
I was shocked at how good it
was.

563
00:30:31,520 --> 00:30:34,000
I don't know.
I just you know, I well, I don't

564
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,400
know.
I just assumed the back rooms

565
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:40,200
was, you know, I don't know,
like slender man esque, like

566
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,800
slender man adjacent and I'm not
really into slender man.

567
00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,320
So I started this research
without having watched the video

568
00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:48,880
first, Then a little bit into
the research.

569
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:52,600
I was like, I should watch this
before I continue and wow, it I

570
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:54,720
I'm of course I was like, I I
get it.

571
00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,920
I understand why a 24 tapped
this kid because did I mention

572
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,640
Cane Pixels is 16 or he was 16
when he first made his first

573
00:31:02,640 --> 00:31:05,760
short film and he was 19.
OK, I'm getting ahead of myself.

574
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:07,680
I'm going off script.
It's just so impressive.

575
00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:09,280
Go watch it if you haven't
watched it.

576
00:31:09,400 --> 00:31:12,920
The movie does open specifically
with no clipping.

577
00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,280
That is exactly what happens to
the guy in the back rooms.

578
00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:19,840
Short film by Kane Parsons.
And it's honestly just so

579
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,240
terrifying of a concept because
I was actually just telling my

580
00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:26,280
therapist the other day this,
she also likes horror movies.

581
00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,760
And so we kind of discussed them
sometimes, you know?

582
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,880
And I'm like, man, horror is so
subjective because, you know,

583
00:31:32,880 --> 00:31:35,880
people have said that Hereditary
is like the scariest movie

584
00:31:35,880 --> 00:31:38,640
they've ever seen.
And I watched it and it was

585
00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:43,000
disturbing.
Like it was depressing, but it

586
00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:45,080
wasn't.
That's scary.

587
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,040
Honestly, it didn't scare me
that bad.

588
00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:50,440
But like I've said on here
before, The Blair Witch Project

589
00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,880
scares me to this day, even
though I know it's not real

590
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:55,320
anymore.
But when I first watched it, it

591
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:56,920
was so terrifying to me, you
know?

592
00:31:56,920 --> 00:32:00,080
So even now it's scary.
And The thing is, is it's like,

593
00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:03,920
if it can happen to me, then
it's way scarier.

594
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,080
If it can happen to me, it's
it's way scarier.

595
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:09,880
Hereditary.
That's probably not happening to

596
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:11,520
me.
Because.

597
00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:13,640
You know what I mean?
That's probably not happening to

598
00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:17,360
me.
But the backrooms, The backrooms

599
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,160
could happen to me because of
the concept of the backrooms is

600
00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:22,040
just that.
You can be living your life

601
00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,080
completely oblivious.
You don't even know that the

602
00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:28,480
backrooms exist.
You can just be living your life

603
00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,720
and then suddenly, inexplicably,
through no power of your own,

604
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:38,240
you, you take one step wrong.
You're in your kitchen, you're

605
00:32:38,240 --> 00:32:41,840
cooking dinner.
You accidentally take one step

606
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:47,640
back at just the right angle or
the wrong angle, and then you

607
00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,560
are plunged into this alternate
world with creatures that are

608
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,160
hunting you and there's no way
back out.

609
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,280
Your life is permanently altered
forever.

610
00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,200
You're probably going to die
there, and there's literally no

611
00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:02,960
way to protect yourself from it.
There's no way to stop yourself

612
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,200
from no clipping into this other
world.

613
00:33:05,640 --> 00:33:11,600
It's genuinely scary because
it's invisible and you can't

614
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,520
stop it, and there's no way to
know when it's going to happen.

615
00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,400
And if you're a regular
listener, you might be

616
00:33:18,400 --> 00:33:20,520
recognizing this.
First of all, wait.

617
00:33:20,520 --> 00:33:23,640
If you're a regular listener,
hello, welcome back.

618
00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:27,400
I'm so happy to have you.
And you might recognize this is

619
00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:32,240
a familiar topic to me because
invisible entities, you know,

620
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:36,320
invisible danger that you can't
see whether it's coming or not,

621
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:41,320
sounds a little bit like demons.
Like maybe there's a demon

622
00:33:41,320 --> 00:33:43,800
watching you at all times and
then they're going to strike and

623
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:45,400
you won't be able to do anything
about it.

624
00:33:45,400 --> 00:33:47,160
And it's a evil demon.
It is invisible.

625
00:33:47,160 --> 00:33:49,000
And you might Your world might
be changed.

626
00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,440
Flip turned upside down.
Forever.

627
00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:53,840
So I think the backrooms is a
terrifying concept.

628
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:57,720
And I think if I was a child
when the when when the backrooms

629
00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:01,560
came out, I think I would have
been terrified of it.

630
00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:05,360
And I can tell you right now,
lots of other people are out

631
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:07,200
there being really scared of the
backrooms too.

632
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,920
And do you know why I know that?
Because what Google search term

633
00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:14,480
do you think started spiking
shortly after the release of

634
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:19,320
Cane Pixels first Backrooms
viral YouTube video in 2022?

635
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,320
I'll give you a second to guess
what the Google search term is.

636
00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:25,040
What do you think people were
Googling after the release of

637
00:34:25,040 --> 00:34:29,520
this viral Backroom short film?
If your guess was are the

638
00:34:29,520 --> 00:34:32,639
backrooms real?
You win.

639
00:34:33,199 --> 00:34:34,520
Oh, boy.
No.

640
00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:36,440
Listen, I'm not shaming anyone
for asking that.

641
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,560
Genuinely.
I'm not shaming you for asking

642
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,520
that.
If you're a child, maybe.

643
00:34:40,520 --> 00:34:41,600
If you're an adult, I don't
know.

644
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:42,520
It's fun to.
You know what?

645
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:44,639
Why don't we ask?
There's no shame in asking.

646
00:34:44,639 --> 00:34:46,239
You know what?
I'll allow it.

647
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:47,840
There's no shame in asking that
question.

648
00:34:48,199 --> 00:34:52,199
Or the backroom is real.
Because like I just said, I

649
00:34:52,199 --> 00:34:54,880
fully believe that the Blair
Witch Project was 100% real when

650
00:34:54,880 --> 00:34:58,120
I was a teenager, so I can't
knock any of them for thinking

651
00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:00,560
that this is true.
And it's fun to believe in this

652
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:03,960
kind of spooky stuff, but then
someone inevitably takes it too

653
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,040
far.
Because remember the Slender Man

654
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,600
stabbing?
Remember that?

655
00:35:07,720 --> 00:35:11,880
Yeah, not a good time.
Where Peyton Leutner, 12 at the

656
00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:16,360
time, was stabbed 19 times by
her so-called friends Morgan

657
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,840
Geyser and Anissa Weir also. 12
who claim to have.

658
00:35:20,840 --> 00:35:24,720
Done it to get in good with
Slender Man like it's a slippery

659
00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:26,320
slope.
You know, it's just a little bit

660
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:29,560
of a slippery slope because I
bet you when Slender Man was

661
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,640
big, there was a huge spike in
Google searches for is Slender

662
00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,680
Man real?
I will not be shocked.

663
00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:40,000
Look, I'm not, I don't want this
to happen, obviously, but I will

664
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:44,320
not be shocked if there's a
similar violent incident

665
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:48,320
surrounding the back rooms.
Obviously there's not like a

666
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:52,120
slender man to to impress, but I
just feel like, you know, I

667
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:53,680
don't know, do you see what I'm
saying?

668
00:35:53,680 --> 00:35:56,720
It's like hard to put it in
exactly, exactly into words.

669
00:35:57,200 --> 00:35:59,160
And this part is a.
Little less terrifying than

670
00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,760
attempted murder, but I.
Just, I just hate to think of

671
00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:07,320
people alone at night, wide
awake and paranoid that they

672
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:11,000
might no clip out of reality if
they just shift wrong into their

673
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,920
bed.
You know, because again, being

674
00:36:14,920 --> 00:36:18,480
afraid of invisible dangers,
like demons for me as a child,

675
00:36:18,840 --> 00:36:21,560
for this new generation of kids,
they're obviously afraid of

676
00:36:21,560 --> 00:36:22,960
getting trapped in the
backrooms.

677
00:36:23,640 --> 00:36:25,960
But being afraid of invisible
dangers is just.

678
00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:28,400
Torture for your nervous system
and mental health.

679
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,960
It is awful.
I mean, not everyone will be

680
00:36:31,960 --> 00:36:34,280
affected like that.
Not everyone who reads about the

681
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:38,600
backrooms will be terrified of
no clipping out of reality.

682
00:36:38,880 --> 00:36:42,360
But Long story short, no, the
backrooms aren't real.

683
00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:45,680
Probably, probably, definitely,
maybe not real.

684
00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,240
I mean, I can't prove that
they're not real.

685
00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,720
Who can say, really?
No, me, I can say they're not

686
00:36:51,720 --> 00:36:52,880
real.
They're definitely not real.

687
00:36:52,880 --> 00:36:56,720
But they are fascinating.
And I'm not the only one who

688
00:36:56,720 --> 00:36:58,200
thinks so.
No, no, no, no.

689
00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:03,160
There are hundreds and thousands
of fans.

690
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:05,680
So I mentioned earlier what
feels like five hours earlier

691
00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:07,000
now.
So I mentioned earlier that the

692
00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:10,680
Backrooms, which in itself,
which is itself a creepypasta to

693
00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:13,520
begin with, has spawned more
creepypastas.

694
00:37:13,680 --> 00:37:17,520
Which have we talked about this?
OK, pause the term creepypasta.

695
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,200
Here we go.
The term creepypasta came about

696
00:37:20,200 --> 00:37:26,160
as a riff on the term copypasta.
Copypasta one word of course is

697
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,840
kind of a jokey term for having
copied text and pasted it

698
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:34,080
somewhere else, AKA kind of
stealing it and reposting it

699
00:37:34,080 --> 00:37:36,720
like a meme.
But specifically it's only text

700
00:37:36,720 --> 00:37:41,440
like on 4 Chan or other forums.
So instead of copy paste, you

701
00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:43,520
just change the E to an A and
you get copy pasta.

702
00:37:43,520 --> 00:37:46,360
And it's kind of, it's funny,
it's clever, but then when

703
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:51,200
people started copy pasta ING
creepy stuff, they started

704
00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:54,560
calling it creepypasta instead
of copypasta, which I think is

705
00:37:54,560 --> 00:37:57,040
actually even more clever.
So if you've ever wondered what

706
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,680
is creepypasta, there it is.
There it is for you.

707
00:37:59,920 --> 00:38:03,160
In a little tiny, strange
nutshell, pistachio.

708
00:38:03,400 --> 00:38:05,040
Here we go from the creepypasta
wiki.

709
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,680
Since its initial spark of
interest, the Backrooms has

710
00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,920
garnered its own independent fan
base, providing additional

711
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:15,640
aspects to the setting in the
form of writing fan imagery, fan

712
00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:17,640
art.
OK, let's be clear.

713
00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:21,680
Hold on, put a pin in it.
Video game adaptations and even

714
00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:25,360
several film adaptations.
The Backroom's wiki serves as a

715
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:29,360
database for relevant side
projects and fan inventions.

716
00:38:29,600 --> 00:38:32,280
Fan inventions?
Fan inventions.

717
00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,600
Now humor me, would you?
Do you?

718
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,040
Can you?
Do you mind humoring me for just

719
00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:42,280
just a few minutes?
If you could do that, I would

720
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,360
really appreciate it because I
want to share with you just a

721
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:48,920
couple takeaways before I get
too much further before I get to

722
00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:50,760
1 of the pins that we set
earlier.

723
00:38:50,760 --> 00:38:52,760
Because you what?
Listen, you can go find a bunch

724
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,520
of other podcasts and YouTube
videos.

725
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,120
Don't until you're done with
this one.

726
00:38:57,120 --> 00:38:59,280
Don't.
But then you can because there's

727
00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:00,760
lots of really good ones out
there.

728
00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:03,200
You can find a lot of other
podcasts and YouTube videos

729
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,400
talking about the back rooms,
but I can tell you this, you're

730
00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,480
not going to find these strange
takeaways anywhere else.

731
00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:10,240
OK, this is it.
You're not going to hear it

732
00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:11,720
anywhere else.
So just humor me.

733
00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:15,520
After immersing myself up to my
strange eyeballs in the back

734
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:19,400
rooms for literally weeks now,
and before that, having been

735
00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:23,920
marinating in lore about another
Internet born urban legend, the

736
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,560
Mimic, I've come to two
conclusions.

737
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:32,840
One that I teased in the Mimic
episode #1 the youth yearns for

738
00:39:32,840 --> 00:39:35,880
fanfiction.
Because tell me, why is

739
00:39:35,880 --> 00:39:39,600
creepypasta based on existing
concepts like Slender Man and

740
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,280
the Backrooms other than just
fanfics?

741
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:47,280
Tell me writing fiction based on
something that someone else

742
00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:50,880
created because you're a.
Fan of it, even if it's just

743
00:39:50,880 --> 00:39:52,520
world building.
It doesn't have a host of

744
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:55,960
characters like a cinematic
universe is fan fiction.

745
00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:59,200
It's literally the definition of
fan fiction, which is totally

746
00:39:59,200 --> 00:40:00,600
fine.
I love a good fanfic.

747
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:02,880
Some fan fiction is better
written than some published

748
00:40:02,880 --> 00:40:04,760
books that I've read and paid
for.

749
00:40:05,200 --> 00:40:06,440
But let's just call it what it
is.

750
00:40:06,640 --> 00:40:10,480
Let's call fiction based on
someone else's creation by its

751
00:40:10,480 --> 00:40:14,040
full government name Fan.
Fiction.

752
00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:16,600
I do wonder.
I have been wondering this and I

753
00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:17,880
want to hear your thoughts about
it too.

754
00:40:17,880 --> 00:40:21,960
I do wonder if it's like, is fan
fiction as a term sort of

755
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:27,440
perceived to be feminine, but
creepypasta is somehow seen as

756
00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:31,880
more masculine so it's more
acceptable and doesn't feel so

757
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:34,640
frivolous.
I feel like I'm really onto

758
00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:36,400
something there.
I feel like that's why it's not

759
00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:37,840
called fan fiction.
And it's not just because, well,

760
00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:40,120
this is scary.
This is the, you know, and it's

761
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,040
meant to be shared.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

762
00:40:42,040 --> 00:40:43,920
no, no, no.
There's something more here

763
00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:47,520
happening because this is just
fan fiction or fan art, how they

764
00:40:47,520 --> 00:40:48,920
say.
Fan creations.

765
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:52,200
OK, fan art.
Let's call it what it is.

766
00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:54,680
I mean, either way, my biggest
take away from the backrooms

767
00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:57,480
research and the mimic research
that I've done is that the art

768
00:40:57,480 --> 00:41:00,920
of the fanfic will never die.
It might just get rebranded.

769
00:41:01,840 --> 00:41:08,080
So I have I so I have deemed
what we're seeing with fans of

770
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:10,520
not just mimics, but also the
backrooms.

771
00:41:11,120 --> 00:41:15,760
I have deemed it fanficification
where they take something and

772
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:18,040
they just run with it.
They go improv with it.

773
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:22,360
Yes and yes, and but some of
them kind of blur the line

774
00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,160
between fiction and fantasy and
reality.

775
00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:31,080
I need someone who is smarter
than me and more academic to do

776
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:34,280
some sort of thesis or something
on fanficification.

777
00:41:34,280 --> 00:41:35,440
Or are you?
Have you?

778
00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:37,560
Do you know what I'm talking
about?

779
00:41:38,040 --> 00:41:39,920
Can you say this in smarter
words?

780
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:41,720
Let me know
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

781
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:44,120
Anyway, my second take away that
I want to share with you guys.

782
00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:47,520
The youth yearns for video game
manuals, OK?

783
00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,800
Because back in my strange day,
video games came with a little

784
00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:54,600
printed manual that had like
illustrations and lore and like

785
00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:56,640
info about the game and like how
to play the game.

786
00:41:56,880 --> 00:42:00,680
And I remember like Super Mario
Brothers for Nintendo having

787
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:03,200
these illustrations.
I specifically remember the one

788
00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:09,280
with who's the little pink Dino
guy that's that shoots eggs.

789
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:12,640
I remember the illustration of
him and I remember just

790
00:42:12,640 --> 00:42:14,720
flipping.
Through the whole little book

791
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:16,760
over and over and over again
because we didn't have

792
00:42:16,760 --> 00:42:19,320
smartphones back then.
So, you know, that's just kind

793
00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:21,960
of what you did is flipping the
same books over and over.

794
00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:24,920
But in addition to the little
printed manuals, there were also

795
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:28,040
actual strategy guides before
the Internet ruined them.

796
00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,800
Like it ruined so many other
things where you could look up

797
00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:33,320
entire maps of every level in
the whole world.

798
00:42:33,480 --> 00:42:37,280
Or you could also look up a
bestiary which lists every

799
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:39,600
single bad guy or all the
monsters, and you could look

800
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:41,760
them up and look at their stats
and look at their photos and

801
00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:43,920
stuff.
And when I tell you that there

802
00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:47,520
is so much discourse online
about the Backrooms and what

803
00:42:47,520 --> 00:42:51,480
creatures reside there, and just
the arguments that people get

804
00:42:51,480 --> 00:42:55,160
into online about the different
levels of of the Backrooms and

805
00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:57,920
how, no, this one level doesn't
have this monster in it because

806
00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,000
that monster is only on this
other level.

807
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:02,880
And they're deciding facts
pulled from wikis that are

808
00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:06,200
written by other fans about the
Backrooms.

809
00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:08,400
They just want a.
Guidebook.

810
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:12,200
They want maps, they want
bestiaries, they want a little

811
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:14,040
printed manual.
And they want a little.

812
00:43:14,040 --> 00:43:16,520
Strategy Guide.
And if they just had those

813
00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:19,160
printed in their homes, I just
think they would be a lot

814
00:43:19,160 --> 00:43:21,960
happier.
So let's bring those back.

815
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:26,560
OK, There, I had to share those
before getting too much further

816
00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:28,120
because something is wrong with
me.

817
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,880
I don't know what else to say.
I don't know how to explain it.

818
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:33,880
So I kind of touched on this a
little bit, but fans of the

819
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,240
Backrooms have created their own
levels, OK, Like different

820
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:41,000
levels of the back rooms, Like
like the first picture that you

821
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:45,560
see of that yellow room in
John's Hobbies, That's one of

822
00:43:45,560 --> 00:43:48,320
the levels.
But there are many other levels

823
00:43:48,480 --> 00:43:50,520
but in the original Canon of the
back rooms.

824
00:43:50,520 --> 00:43:53,520
And by the way, when I'm saying
Canon, if you're not chronically

825
00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:57,840
online or like in fandom spaces,
when you say Canon, you're using

826
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:01,960
it like they do in like
Catholicism or religion, where

827
00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:08,280
you're saying like this is true
to the original content and lore

828
00:44:08,400 --> 00:44:10,920
and that's different from like
fan stuff that's being created

829
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:13,280
or whatever.
So in the original Canon of the

830
00:44:13,280 --> 00:44:16,480
Backrooms, which I will be
completely honest about and I

831
00:44:16,480 --> 00:44:20,320
will admit that I am not sure
who has dubbed them Canon much

832
00:44:20,320 --> 00:44:24,000
like.
Religion much like Catholicism.

833
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,120
Who decides?
Who decides?

834
00:44:26,120 --> 00:44:30,560
I don't know but in the original
backrooms lore there are only 9

835
00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:35,680
levels and 9 is cool.
Like I said, Dante's Inferno AKA

836
00:44:35,680 --> 00:44:39,600
hell. 9 levels of hell, 9
levels, Well, nine circles of

837
00:44:39,600 --> 00:44:41,120
hell, 9 levels of the
backgrounds.

838
00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:43,640
But in a setting where there's
6,000,000 square feet or

839
00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:46,840
whatever of rooms to be trapped
in, why stop there?

840
00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,440
Why stop at 9:00?
So people didn't stop.

841
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,080
They created their own levels.
That's what the fanfics that

842
00:44:52,080 --> 00:44:53,520
they're writing.
If you're wondering how can I

843
00:44:53,520 --> 00:44:56,680
write a fanfic about the back
rooms, it's just a room.

844
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:00,560
No, this is how they do it.
They create their own levels

845
00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:03,320
with their own settings, their
own lore, their rules, and their

846
00:45:03,320 --> 00:45:06,880
own monsters and creatures.
And like some levels you can't

847
00:45:06,880 --> 00:45:09,960
be attacked in kind of like
creative mode in Minecraft if

848
00:45:09,960 --> 00:45:13,160
you've played that, whereas in
other levels you definitely can

849
00:45:13,160 --> 00:45:17,160
be killed like in survival mode
in Minecraft and I don't.

850
00:45:17,160 --> 00:45:19,320
Think that Minecraft is a lot
more influential to the

851
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:22,360
Backroom's creation than it
seems at first blush.

852
00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:24,760
Like talking about just liminal
spaces.

853
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:28,080
I see a lot of discussion online
about Minecraft settings being

854
00:45:28,080 --> 00:45:32,000
liminal spaces, and in Minecraft
you've got an endless option of

855
00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:36,040
settings and locations.
Levels, you might say.

856
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:38,200
I just feel like there's
something there.

857
00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:40,800
Anyway, back to people creating
their own backrooms content.

858
00:45:40,840 --> 00:45:45,040
I mean fan fiction and fan art
and fan movies.

859
00:45:45,200 --> 00:45:47,800
Usually when it comes to fan
made stuff, it's based on

860
00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:51,640
intellectual property, right?
Like ATV show or a movie or a

861
00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:53,520
book.
It's something that's created

862
00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:56,720
and has trademarks and
copyrights, like Anne Rice, who

863
00:45:56,720 --> 00:46:00,400
is famously litigious, by the
way, even for just people

864
00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:02,720
writing fanfics.
Or so I've heard.

865
00:46:02,960 --> 00:46:05,520
Allegedly.
Please don't sue me, Anne Rice.

866
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:10,240
But for Creative Commons or
public domain content like the

867
00:46:10,240 --> 00:46:13,760
Backrooms, there's no one to own
the trademark.

868
00:46:14,120 --> 00:46:16,440
There's no one to send out cease
and desist.

869
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:20,760
Because with the Backrooms, the
anonymous user who created the

870
00:46:20,760 --> 00:46:22,840
Backrooms hasn't been
identified.

871
00:46:22,840 --> 00:46:25,480
Which is crazy because if I was
the one who?

872
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:28,000
Created it.
I would be insufferable if that

873
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:29,680
was me.
Let me tell you, I would be

874
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:32,200
knocking on a 24's door.
Hello.

875
00:46:32,320 --> 00:46:35,120
I need my check, please.
Maybe they'll surface now.

876
00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:37,520
Well, I know.
Oh, what do we think?

877
00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:40,840
Do we do we think that they did
do that and that a 24, like

878
00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:43,400
quietly gave them money or they
were like, prove it.

879
00:46:43,640 --> 00:46:45,200
That's probably more likely a
20.

880
00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:47,240
Four said yeah, right.
Yeah, right.

881
00:46:47,240 --> 00:46:48,560
How convenient.
Prove it.

882
00:46:48,680 --> 00:46:51,640
You can't because it was on 4
Chan, so you can't.

883
00:46:51,680 --> 00:46:54,120
Like it's all anonymous.
There's no way to chase it.

884
00:46:54,120 --> 00:46:58,960
Anyway, the question is who owns
the backrooms?

885
00:46:59,600 --> 00:47:04,760
Not like, not like the, the
world, you know, not like in, in

886
00:47:04,760 --> 00:47:07,680
a world in which the Backrooms
exists.

887
00:47:07,680 --> 00:47:11,560
I don't mean like what
supernatural entity owns those

888
00:47:11,560 --> 00:47:14,640
backrooms.
I mean the IP, the intellectual

889
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:18,840
property, who owns it?
No one actually owns it.

890
00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:21,240
There's no copyrights or
trademarks.

891
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:24,080
So far, except hold on a second
hold, please.

892
00:47:24,880 --> 00:47:26,360
OK, I'm back.
OK.

893
00:47:26,680 --> 00:47:29,240
The United States Patent and
Trademark Office Trademark

894
00:47:29,240 --> 00:47:31,720
Search.
Which is a lot of words in a

895
00:47:31,720 --> 00:47:35,520
row.
Shows 5 live trademarks OK, four

896
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:39,400
of which are pending and yes
they were all filed after the

897
00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:42,280
creation of the Backrooms in
2019.

898
00:47:42,400 --> 00:47:45,720
OK, there's a Backrooms TCG
which stands for like the card

899
00:47:45,720 --> 00:47:48,080
game which I just looked.
Up and it's exactly what it

900
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:49,840
sounds like it's a trading card
game the.

901
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:53,160
All by the way, spoiler alert,
all of these backrooms, patents

902
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:57,200
and trademarks are all based on
the backrooms.

903
00:47:57,280 --> 00:48:00,800
OK, so we've got like a
backrooms TCG, then the term

904
00:48:00,800 --> 00:48:03,640
just backrooms.
Not like the backrooms, but just

905
00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,880
backrooms like one word.
But looking at who owns the

906
00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,280
trademark, it looks like they're
Polish because of the amount of

907
00:48:10,280 --> 00:48:13,120
ZS and YS and.
XS and marks over OS.

908
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:15,880
But they list that they do
everything from video games to

909
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:20,920
selling umbrellas and key chains
to oh, they're they're a feature

910
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,600
film production company.
And OK, yeah, they're definitely

911
00:48:23,600 --> 00:48:26,800
Polish.
It's called Gigant Films has

912
00:48:26,800 --> 00:48:30,600
bought the term Backrooms as a
trademark, which is which is

913
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:32,480
really weird.
Anyway, Gigant Films is

914
00:48:32,480 --> 00:48:35,560
apparently Polish for giant
films, but they haven't really

915
00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:39,080
made many movies and they don't
seem like a particularly giant

916
00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:41,880
film company.
Anyway, more trademarks.

917
00:48:42,160 --> 00:48:44,600
There's Benny's Backrooms, which
I thought might be some kind of

918
00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:48,880
casino backroom thing, but no,
it actually is just the About

919
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:51,320
the Backrooms entertainment
services, namely providing

920
00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:54,680
online video games featuring an
action horror game featuring a

921
00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:57,200
monster lurking within maze like
levels.

922
00:48:57,760 --> 00:48:59,640
OK, it yeah, it's just about the
Backrooms.

923
00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:02,000
There's also Escape the
Backrooms, which is another

924
00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:05,560
video game situation.
And finally, there's a trademark

925
00:49:05,560 --> 00:49:08,880
filed for Backrooms Escape
Together, another video game.

926
00:49:08,880 --> 00:49:10,240
And these are all from different
people.

927
00:49:10,400 --> 00:49:12,520
Well, hold on a second, because
can we go back to Poland for a

928
00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:16,280
second?
Because Gigant films, this

929
00:49:16,280 --> 00:49:18,880
Polish company, their trademark
really is just the word

930
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:22,120
backrooms, which is really weird
because the more I think about

931
00:49:22,120 --> 00:49:25,440
it, the weirder it gets because
typically they don't let you

932
00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:27,880
just trademark like.
Actual words.

933
00:49:28,000 --> 00:49:29,440
I mean, I'm not a strange
attorney.

934
00:49:29,440 --> 00:49:34,040
OK, so I guess what do I know?
But I've dabbled in legal teams

935
00:49:34,040 --> 00:49:38,560
working with trademark searches,
and that's not normal to me.

936
00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:41,800
But what about you?
Are you a strange attorney?

937
00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:44,800
Let me know Maddow
strangeways@gmail.com Is this

938
00:49:44,800 --> 00:49:46,600
weird?
But I feel like this Polish

939
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:51,160
company kind of swooped in in
2022 after Cane Pixel shot the

940
00:49:51,160 --> 00:49:54,440
backrooms into popularity and
then got the trademark in hopes

941
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:55,240
of like.
I don't know.

942
00:49:55,240 --> 00:49:58,560
Suing all the creators that use
backrooms in their stuff like.

943
00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:00,200
How How?
What are they doing?

944
00:50:00,200 --> 00:50:02,640
How do I find out?
Like I want to know like what

945
00:50:02,640 --> 00:50:04,280
are these other OK.
You know what?

946
00:50:04,600 --> 00:50:06,960
Stop.
OK, Madame Brockovich, calm

947
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:08,880
down.
Let's get back to the Backrooms

948
00:50:08,880 --> 00:50:11,280
at large.
So lots of money is being made

949
00:50:11,280 --> 00:50:14,760
on the back rooms, and for once
it's not owned by a giant mouse

950
00:50:14,760 --> 00:50:16,920
or some other conglomerate.
Shockingly.

951
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:20,320
OK, so I mentioned that the
horror giant ate horror.

952
00:50:20,640 --> 00:50:25,040
I'm going to enunciate that.
So I mentioned that the Horror

953
00:50:25,040 --> 00:50:28,280
Giant A 24 has a movie about the
back rooms coming out.

954
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:31,880
What you might not know, except
that I spoiled this earlier and

955
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:36,360
didn't realize that this is
where I had it in the script, is

956
00:50:36,360 --> 00:50:39,040
that the creator?
Of that crazy famous series on

957
00:50:39,040 --> 00:50:42,440
YouTube is that the creator of
that crazy famous series of

958
00:50:42,440 --> 00:50:46,520
YouTube short movies is the one
directing at Cane Pixels AKA

959
00:50:46,960 --> 00:50:51,760
Cane Parsons who when he was 16
prior to uploading his first

960
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:53,960
Backrooms.
Video he was just an Attack on

961
00:50:53,960 --> 00:50:58,240
Titan Stan.
He was he was he was a fan and

962
00:50:58,240 --> 00:51:00,520
he was making fan content
because that's what he was doing

963
00:51:00,520 --> 00:51:02,320
is he was uploading content
about his favorite anime.

964
00:51:02,320 --> 00:51:05,520
He was uploading videos that he
was making about Attack on

965
00:51:05,520 --> 00:51:07,840
Titan.
This is this is what I'm.

966
00:51:07,840 --> 00:51:11,320
Saying it's fan videos, it's
fan.

967
00:51:11,320 --> 00:51:14,400
See what I mean?
Even Kane Parsons, that's all

968
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:16,160
that.
That's all he was doing.

969
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:19,760
It's crazy because now he's been
catapulted into, I don't know,

970
00:51:19,760 --> 00:51:21,600
directed him.
It's great.

971
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:23,360
Now he's directing a feature.
It's crazy.

972
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:24,560
OK, crazy.
Moving on.

973
00:51:24,800 --> 00:51:28,680
OK Kane Parsons created his
little mini movies in Blender,

974
00:51:28,680 --> 00:51:32,040
which is a free and open source
3D computer graphics software,

975
00:51:32,200 --> 00:51:35,120
and he also did it in Adobe
After Effects and it looks

976
00:51:35,120 --> 00:51:38,720
seriously amazing.
I had no idea what to expect

977
00:51:38,720 --> 00:51:41,000
when I watched the first one,
but I'm serious.

978
00:51:41,000 --> 00:51:43,960
I was so impressed.
It looks amazing and he was just

979
00:51:43,960 --> 00:51:45,160
doing it for the love of the
game.

980
00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:47,400
He wasn't even thinking that he
would get paid for it one day

981
00:51:47,400 --> 00:51:49,400
and become a director of an
actual movie.

982
00:51:49,920 --> 00:51:52,640
Kane's first Backrooms found
fitted video was uploaded on

983
00:51:52,640 --> 00:51:59,120
January 7th, 2022.
Within just two weeks it had 8

984
00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:03,560
million views. 8 million views
in two weeks.

985
00:52:03,840 --> 00:52:10,160
As of early March 2026, it's at
72 million views, which is an

986
00:52:10,160 --> 00:52:12,880
insanely high number to me.
So I had to immediately pull up

987
00:52:12,880 --> 00:52:15,720
the most viewed YouTube videos
because I needed to get a

988
00:52:15,720 --> 00:52:17,000
comparison.
Like.

989
00:52:17,360 --> 00:52:20,960
How does this compare to the
other most famously most watched

990
00:52:20,960 --> 00:52:27,240
YouTube videos and OK,
apparently baby shark.

991
00:52:27,920 --> 00:52:30,120
Baby Shark.
Is the most watched YouTube

992
00:52:30,120 --> 00:52:35,000
video ever of all time.
Sitting at 16.7 billion with AB

993
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:39,480
biz views.
Hold on here we go quick rabbit

994
00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:42,080
hole Baby Shark was published
June 2016.

995
00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:46,920
So as of the day of me writing
this on March 7th, this part of

996
00:52:46,920 --> 00:52:48,600
the because you know I finished
it on the 13th.

997
00:52:48,600 --> 00:52:51,560
I'm telling you this is this is
a labor of love.

998
00:52:51,560 --> 00:52:55,120
OK anyway, on March 7th when I
was writing this it.

999
00:52:55,120 --> 00:52:59,200
Had been up for 35150 days.
I said that really strangely.

1000
00:52:59,200 --> 00:53:04,240
3550 days.
That means Baby Shark gets

1001
00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:10,600
4,704,200 and 25 million views a
day on average.

1002
00:53:10,840 --> 00:53:12,200
Let's compare that to The
Backrooms.

1003
00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:17,800
The first Backrooms video,
released 1520 days ago, averages

1004
00:53:17,800 --> 00:53:23,440
out at 47,628 views a day.
That is still a lot, considering

1005
00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:27,200
that The Backrooms is hopefully
not playing on loop on sticky

1006
00:53:27,200 --> 00:53:29,920
iPads covered in spaghetti sauce
across the country like Baby

1007
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:32,800
Shark is.
But what really led to the

1008
00:53:32,800 --> 00:53:35,160
popularity of the Backrooms in
the 1st place?

1009
00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:38,280
Surely there's a universe out
there in which Cane Pixels made

1010
00:53:38,280 --> 00:53:40,280
these videos, but they just
didn't catch on because the

1011
00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:41,880
Backrooms just weren't that
popular.

1012
00:53:41,960 --> 00:53:44,400
So what?
Was it that made them stick so

1013
00:53:44,400 --> 00:53:47,520
we know the first reference to
them was made in 2019?

1014
00:53:48,080 --> 00:53:51,400
Or do we?
That's allegedly because in my

1015
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:54,720
research, I kept coming across
many different people

1016
00:53:54,720 --> 00:53:58,400
passionately insisting that they
were aware of the back rooms by

1017
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:03,280
that name around 2012 or 2010.
Here's what I'll say.

1018
00:54:03,600 --> 00:54:07,160
I think it's possible that by
the very nature of creepypasta,

1019
00:54:07,240 --> 00:54:10,800
you know, copy paste, copy pasta
creepypasta.

1020
00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:15,360
I think that it's possible that
it existed prior to 2019 and

1021
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:18,440
that it's possible we have no
record of it because we've lost

1022
00:54:18,440 --> 00:54:22,400
so much of the historical data
from sites like 4 Chan and other

1023
00:54:22,400 --> 00:54:24,520
forums that aren't easily
crawlable.

1024
00:54:24,760 --> 00:54:28,160
But also the sheer amount of
content posted on 4.

1025
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:32,120
Chan is an issue.
But man, I looked and I looked.

1026
00:54:32,400 --> 00:54:35,760
I combed through Google searches
in small chunks like from 2.

1027
00:54:35,760 --> 00:54:40,160
1004 to 2005. 2005 to 2006. 2006
ad nauseam.

1028
00:54:40,680 --> 00:54:44,040
I could not find any results
from before 20/19.

1029
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:48,400
I was doing things like
searching for maximum Humbuzz

1030
00:54:48,400 --> 00:54:50,280
because that's a really
interesting phrase.

1031
00:54:50,320 --> 00:54:52,640
You know, when I was also
looking for backrooms and I

1032
00:54:52,640 --> 00:54:55,800
tried a few different things and
honestly, by the way, Google

1033
00:54:55,800 --> 00:54:57,880
search sucks now.
So if you're doing your own

1034
00:54:57,880 --> 00:55:00,720
research and you're trying to
figure out when something was

1035
00:55:00,720 --> 00:55:04,720
posted, if you just look at the
results, it makes it look like,

1036
00:55:04,720 --> 00:55:07,360
oh, they were talking about the
Backrooms back in 2011.

1037
00:55:07,480 --> 00:55:10,200
But then you actually click the
link and you go into the link.

1038
00:55:10,720 --> 00:55:13,720
And no, it was definitely not
posted in 2011.

1039
00:55:13,720 --> 00:55:16,160
Like the site that you just
clicked on that page didn't even

1040
00:55:16,160 --> 00:55:20,320
exist until like 2020, you know?
And not a single one of them

1041
00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:23,200
predated 2019.
I also checked the Internet

1042
00:55:23,200 --> 00:55:26,880
archives for any references to
that text like Backrooms or

1043
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:31,280
Maximum Humbuzz, etcetera, and
nothing prior to 2019 popped up.

1044
00:55:31,680 --> 00:55:34,320
So while I do think it's
possible that the OG Backrooms

1045
00:55:34,320 --> 00:55:39,600
creepypasta was written prior to
2019, I also think that maybe

1046
00:55:39,600 --> 00:55:44,000
people are just experiencing the
Mandela Effect, or as I've said

1047
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:47,800
countless times on the show,
their memories are just fallible

1048
00:55:48,240 --> 00:55:50,120
because all memories are
fallible.

1049
00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:53,480
But back to the research.
I also looked at the history of

1050
00:55:53,480 --> 00:55:57,240
the usage of the term no clip
and no clipping in paranormal

1051
00:55:57,240 --> 00:56:00,400
terms like using the term to
describe something in real life

1052
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:02,240
and not just something happening
in a video game.

1053
00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:08,160
So I had to go again to 4 Chan
and you do see it being used as

1054
00:56:08,160 --> 00:56:13,200
far back as 2013 and 2014 and
the paranormal forum describing

1055
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:17,440
the movement of creepy things
not in a video game.

1056
00:56:17,880 --> 00:56:20,880
Whereas before it was purely a
word to explain something in a

1057
00:56:20,880 --> 00:56:22,800
video game.
Then looking at the term

1058
00:56:22,800 --> 00:56:26,160
backrooms is one word.
Google Trends had a little blip

1059
00:56:26,280 --> 00:56:28,720
of interest in the weeks
following the 4 Chan post in

1060
00:56:28,720 --> 00:56:32,640
2019, then a small little blip
about a year later in 2020.

1061
00:56:32,840 --> 00:56:36,040
But then interest slowly rose
until it quickly.

1062
00:56:36,120 --> 00:56:39,480
All of a sudden shot up.
Starting December 2021 and then

1063
00:56:39,480 --> 00:56:44,200
exploded in January 2022 when
Kane Parsons released his movie,

1064
00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:47,400
his first short film on YouTube.
And then it's been steady ever

1065
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:49,520
since with some peaks and
valleys here and there.

1066
00:56:49,520 --> 00:56:52,640
Just to be expected that
interest that happened a month

1067
00:56:52,640 --> 00:56:58,240
before Kane Parsons short film
could have been from a Backrooms

1068
00:56:58,240 --> 00:57:00,040
mod that was released for
Minecraft.

1069
00:57:00,040 --> 00:57:03,600
Now it was released in August of
2021, but maybe it picked up

1070
00:57:03,600 --> 00:57:05,480
traction and then it spiked in
December.

1071
00:57:05,720 --> 00:57:09,400
There was also a game on Steam
and it was free called the

1072
00:57:09,400 --> 00:57:12,000
Backrooms game.
So the free thing probably

1073
00:57:12,000 --> 00:57:14,640
helped.
And then especially considering

1074
00:57:14,640 --> 00:57:17,720
that in December, people,
especially teenagers and

1075
00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:20,800
probably early 20 somethings,
we're on holiday break from

1076
00:57:20,800 --> 00:57:24,680
school with way more time for
video games, so they might be

1077
00:57:24,680 --> 00:57:27,120
playing more of the Backroom's
mod for Minecraft and that

1078
00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:30,200
Backroom's game.
And then, like I said, because

1079
00:57:30,200 --> 00:57:33,000
the Backrooms are now public
domain, well, they've always

1080
00:57:33,000 --> 00:57:36,200
been public domain.
ND game creators and hobbyist

1081
00:57:36,200 --> 00:57:39,120
coders can make their own games
using the Backroom's lore and

1082
00:57:39,120 --> 00:57:41,840
imagery without worrying about
getting shut down or sued.

1083
00:57:42,320 --> 00:57:44,920
And with fans constantly
updating the wiki and creating

1084
00:57:44,920 --> 00:57:49,080
more free content for free
perpetually, it's honestly.

1085
00:57:49,080 --> 00:57:51,360
Kind of a genius to use that to
base your game on.

1086
00:57:51,520 --> 00:57:54,200
And on top of that, you have a
built in fan base and people

1087
00:57:54,200 --> 00:57:55,960
love the backroom.
So people are looking for

1088
00:57:55,960 --> 00:57:58,240
backroom stuff.
It's kind of genius.

1089
00:57:58,560 --> 00:58:01,800
So when I was searching trying
to figure out why did all of a

1090
00:58:01,800 --> 00:58:05,440
sudden this spike in interest on
Google happened right before the

1091
00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:09,120
Kane Parsons video, I found a
heap of videos from a very

1092
00:58:09,120 --> 00:58:11,920
popular Backrooms creator called
Brugley.

1093
00:58:12,040 --> 00:58:15,680
But when I opened a new tab to
Google if Brugley was a popular

1094
00:58:15,680 --> 00:58:18,280
YouTube because.
I don't know Google auto

1095
00:58:18,280 --> 00:58:22,080
suggested.
Is Brugley A Backrooms entity?

1096
00:58:22,640 --> 00:58:26,520
But can't they be both?
Can't Brugley be both a popular

1097
00:58:26,520 --> 00:58:31,280
YouTube and a Backrooms entity?
So if you're from the Backrooms,

1098
00:58:31,360 --> 00:58:36,120
does that make you a backroom
Chin room chin?

1099
00:58:36,120 --> 00:58:40,680
Like I'm thinking like Laos
because there's an S at the end.

1100
00:58:41,120 --> 00:58:44,920
So like Laos is Laotian or would
it be backroomies?

1101
00:58:45,080 --> 00:58:46,360
Let me know.
Let me know.

1102
00:58:46,360 --> 00:58:48,600
Are you from the Backrooms?
How do you want to be referred

1103
00:58:48,600 --> 00:58:49,320
to?
Let me know Madam

1104
00:58:49,320 --> 00:58:53,760
strangeways@gmail.com.
Anyway, I guess Brugley could

1105
00:58:53,760 --> 00:58:56,800
have had a viral Backrooms video
in December of 2021.

1106
00:58:56,800 --> 00:58:58,520
It's possible.
I really don't have an answer

1107
00:58:58,520 --> 00:59:00,880
and it's really unsatisfying and
it's actually really bothering

1108
00:59:00,880 --> 00:59:01,800
me.
I even.

1109
00:59:01,800 --> 00:59:07,080
Posted on the Backroom subreddit
on Reddit, obviously asking if

1110
00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:10,680
anyone had been around in the
fandom back in 2021 just to see

1111
00:59:10,800 --> 00:59:13,560
what happened and if they had
any ideas, and I didn't get any

1112
00:59:13,560 --> 00:59:17,320
leads.
Either way, come January 2022,

1113
00:59:17,320 --> 00:59:20,840
when Kane Parsons uploaded his
first short film, The Backrooms

1114
00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:25,120
took off like a bat out of hell
or out of Dante's Inferno, you

1115
00:59:25,120 --> 00:59:28,680
might say.
You might say that the Backrooms

1116
00:59:28,680 --> 00:59:34,320
no clipped into Internet
viraldom Internet virality.

1117
00:59:34,320 --> 00:59:38,200
They no clipped from the
Backrooms to our reality

1118
00:59:38,560 --> 00:59:41,440
virality reality.
I've been recording too long.

1119
00:59:41,440 --> 00:59:44,600
This is long.
This is long, but there we go.

1120
00:59:44,840 --> 00:59:49,520
We're that's it.
Finally, Jeez, finally, finally.

1121
00:59:49,680 --> 00:59:54,720
That's that was one strange dive
into the back rooms for you.

1122
00:59:54,720 --> 00:59:56,000
And there's so much more I could
have talked about.

1123
00:59:56,000 --> 00:59:57,240
I didn't even talk about the
creatures.

1124
00:59:57,480 --> 01:00:00,080
I didn't talk about any of the
specific levels except for the

1125
01:00:00,080 --> 01:00:02,560
first one, which I don't even
think it's level 1.

1126
01:00:02,560 --> 01:00:04,120
It's like a different.
It's not numbered.

1127
01:00:04,120 --> 01:00:06,040
It's not.
Do you see what I'm saying?

1128
01:00:06,040 --> 01:00:07,360
There's so much that I could
have talked about.

1129
01:00:07,400 --> 01:00:09,880
I could have talked about more
of the lore from the Caine

1130
01:00:09,880 --> 01:00:13,440
Parsons 22 episode.
Nope. 22 movie.

1131
01:00:13,600 --> 01:00:17,520
I don't know what you call that.
Anyway, 22 part series, I didn't

1132
01:00:17,520 --> 01:00:19,720
talk about any of that.
There's so much I could have

1133
01:00:19,720 --> 01:00:22,920
talked about more I don't think
you want anymore.

1134
01:00:23,160 --> 01:00:27,240
But if you do, let me know
metalstrangeways@gmail.com.

1135
01:00:27,560 --> 01:00:30,320
I mean, I'd be happy to yap more
and to look more into it, but I

1136
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:35,720
feel like hopefully this has
given you at least some insight

1137
01:00:35,720 --> 01:00:38,240
into what the back rooms are.
Now.

1138
01:00:38,240 --> 01:00:41,520
This is coming out before the
movie comes out, but I will have

1139
01:00:41,520 --> 01:00:43,480
to wait a little bit longer
until it's available for

1140
01:00:43,480 --> 01:00:46,880
streaming because I am past the
point in my life where I will

1141
01:00:46,880 --> 01:00:49,480
watch movies with strangers that
have no manners.

1142
01:00:50,160 --> 01:00:52,880
I will watch.
Them in my own strange house

1143
01:00:53,200 --> 01:00:55,560
where I am the only one with no
manners.

1144
01:00:55,640 --> 01:00:58,400
And.
It's OK, I can do whatever I

1145
01:00:58,400 --> 01:01:00,200
want.
I'm a big movie pause.

1146
01:01:00,200 --> 01:01:01,480
Or have I talked about this
guys?

1147
01:01:01,920 --> 01:01:04,600
I will, I'm, I will chaotically
pause.

1148
01:01:05,160 --> 01:01:07,000
I'm I'm like, you know what?
I'm not really.

1149
01:01:07,520 --> 01:01:09,360
Focused on this movie anymore
I'm going to pause it for the

1150
01:01:09,360 --> 01:01:11,560
night and then come back the
next day randomly.

1151
01:01:11,560 --> 01:01:13,600
I don't wait for like I'll
pause.

1152
01:01:13,600 --> 01:01:14,880
I would mid sentence.
I'll be.

1153
01:01:14,880 --> 01:01:19,160
Back later, bye.
So I understand that I am the

1154
01:01:19,160 --> 01:01:23,320
psychopath in some situations.
Now, not to worry, next week we

1155
01:01:23,320 --> 01:01:28,120
will get back to our regularly
scheduled Strange content, our

1156
01:01:28,120 --> 01:01:30,640
regular True Strange Story
episodes.

1157
01:01:30,680 --> 01:01:34,760
So that means if you have a true
strange story of the unexplained

1158
01:01:34,760 --> 01:01:37,280
that you'd like to hear read on
the show, I'm going to need you

1159
01:01:37,280 --> 01:01:39,440
to e-mail it to me. e-mail it to
me right now,

1160
01:01:39,840 --> 01:01:42,760
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
Let me know anything strange,

1161
01:01:42,760 --> 01:01:45,280
anything unexplained.
I want to hear about it

1162
01:01:45,720 --> 01:01:47,480
immediately.
Write me out.

1163
01:01:47,840 --> 01:02:03,480
And I can't wait to read it.
Remember that you can feel

1164
01:02:03,480 --> 01:02:07,600
afraid and not be in danger.
You're safe here with me,

1165
01:02:08,960 --> 01:02:10,640
probably.
Thank you for.

1166
01:02:10,640 --> 01:02:14,240
Joining me for more true strange
stories of the unexplained.

1167
01:02:14,520 --> 01:02:18,080
I'm running A1 Madam Show here,
so please do me a strange solid

1168
01:02:18,080 --> 01:02:21,160
and follow the podcast.
Leave me a rating on Apple or

1169
01:02:21,160 --> 01:02:25,920
Spotify and maybe even join the
Patreon at patreon.com/madam

1170
01:02:25,920 --> 01:02:29,680
Strange Ways for bonus content.
Madam Strange Ways is produced

1171
01:02:29,680 --> 01:02:36,400
and narrated by me
strangewaysthememusicisbymarina.ryan@marinamakes.co

1172
01:02:37,040 --> 01:02:41,120
Cover art is by Andrea Chisel
Roldan at Cult of Teddy on

1173
01:02:41,120 --> 01:02:44,400
Instagram.
Every strange story is shared

1174
01:02:44,400 --> 01:02:46,360
with the permission of the
author.

1175
01:02:46,840 --> 01:02:49,560
You can submit your own true
strange story to

1176
01:02:49,560 --> 01:02:54,760
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.
See you soon, she said

1177
01:02:55,000 --> 01:03:14,530
ominously.
Is what looks like a retro

1178
01:03:14,530 --> 01:03:15,810
photograph.
Photograph.

1179
01:03:15,810 --> 01:03:17,330
Digital photograph.
Good God.

1180
01:03:17,330 --> 01:03:18,930
But you know what?
If you're still listening, are

1181
01:03:18,930 --> 01:03:21,290
you still listening?
Are you still listening?

1182
01:03:21,370 --> 01:03:24,210
Because if you are still
listening, I want to reward you.

1183
01:03:24,290 --> 01:03:27,330
Yeah, you.
If you're still listening, I'm

1184
01:03:27,330 --> 01:03:30,570
going to send you a Madam
Strangeways sticker.

1185
01:03:30,890 --> 01:03:33,090
E-mail me
madamstrangeways@gmail.com if

1186
01:03:33,090 --> 01:03:35,690
you want to.
If you want to trust a stranger

1187
01:03:37,440 --> 01:03:41,680
with your mailing address, I
will happily mail you a Madam

1188
01:03:41,680 --> 01:03:43,920
Strangeways sticker just for
getting to the end of this

1189
01:03:43,920 --> 01:03:46,040
episode.
But patrons, were he not?

1190
01:03:46,440 --> 01:03:48,920
You know why?
Because, well, you'll have

1191
01:03:48,920 --> 01:03:50,400
already gotten this by this
point.

1192
01:03:50,600 --> 01:03:52,560
But when I'm recording this, you
don't know yet.

1193
01:03:52,680 --> 01:03:55,640
But you will be getting a new
fancy sticker soon.

1194
01:03:55,880 --> 01:03:59,480
And by soon, I mean in the past,
because this is being recorded

1195
01:03:59,720 --> 01:04:02,400
before you have it.
Anyway, if you've gotten this

1196
01:04:02,400 --> 01:04:05,240
far, e-mail me
madamstrangeways@gmail.com.

1197
01:04:05,280 --> 01:04:08,480
Tell me that you got to the end.
What's the, what's the secret

1198
01:04:08,480 --> 01:04:10,520
word?
What's the it's not just

1199
01:04:10,520 --> 01:04:12,720
backrooms.
No clip.

1200
01:04:13,600 --> 01:04:17,000
You know what I think that's I
think that's you know what?

1201
01:04:18,240 --> 01:04:22,880
Here's what it is.
E-mail me the phrase Backrooms

1202
01:04:22,880 --> 01:04:25,880
Fanfiction.
Because that's what all this.

1203
01:04:25,880 --> 01:04:27,880
Is go ahead, just e-mail me that
and I'll give you a free

1204
01:04:27,880 --> 01:04:30,440
sticker.
And I appreciate you making it

1205
01:04:30,440 --> 01:04:30,960
this far.